Americas Best Music dropping all DJs

I heard from one the their station's DJs that all DJs will be gone soon, probably by the end of August. So if you like the station the way it is now then record a lot or it will be lost forever.

You wonder how much there is we don't know about Jeff Rollins. And of course he won't be there to tell us what he watched on TV, or what movie he saw. Or his thoughts on what's going on in the world.

He said he's going on vacation in September but didn't explain exactly why.

On the other hand, this is actually good news because we get rid of John Gleason.

Jeff said this morning he's been doing this for decades and will do it until the cows come home. Then he said he heard the cows might ... just kidding.

Only we know he wasn't.

I wonder if they can find a way to do those ads that get sneaked in to talking about the music, which happened this morning?

If there are no DJs there won't be commentary about the music, but they do have announcers between songs who talk about contests.

I came up with one way stations can solve the problem of No DJs. It would mean hiring people, but they could use those either the required or optional commercial breaks or both in some cases, and then just make sure to run the right number of commercials. If I am correct, stations are provided a playlist so they won't play the same songs locally too soon before or after the satellite format plays them, which means an opportunity to comment about the music and even tell us about trivia.

I decided not to stick around for the end of Jeff's show today so I hope someone recorded his last comments. Although a lot of stations would air his show tomorrow.

My station doesn't have the last three hours, so his last words won't air there.

I should have been off the computer by now. I did remember. Carl is playing "If You Don't Know Me By Now" (but it's the inferior, at least to me, Simply Red version). The lyrics include "you will never, never know."

He did say it was his last show. I'm in the other room and I couldn't quite make out the exact words, but I think he said he enjoyed his time with us. He said it pretty much like if he was wrapping up a normal shift.

"Colors of the Wind" is playing now.

Just heard Carl Hampton sign off at 4:55 PM CT. "This is my last show with you. My last air shift," he said. "It has been a true pleasure playing this music." Ironically, his final words were "I'll see you around."

I'm late to this discussion so I didn't realize until coming here to post about Carl that everyone was let go. When I heard his comments, I just assumed he was yet another in a long line of long-timers who got the axe or moved on. I have been listening to Westwood One for many years. I still like its mix of music, but Jeff and Carl will definitely be missed.

It has not been the same since the purge of Chick Watkins, Mark Haden, Ed Brand and others. And I'm sorry to see the last of them go.

Here's an article from last month that has some updated information at the bottom about various DJs, including Jeff. http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/a...nificant-number-of-people-laid-off-at-westwoo

I am interested to see if this is a DJ-less format come Monday or if there is some kind of automated attempt to keep a human voice in the mix. I listen to WGMA FM out of Ocala, Fla for anyone looking for a good quality America's Best Music stream online.

publisher said:

Here's an article from last month that has some updated information at the bottom about various DJs, including Jeff. http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/a...nificant-number-of-people-laid-off-at-westwoo

I am interested to see if this is a DJ-less format come Monday or if there is some kind of automated attempt to keep a human voice in the mix. I listen to WGMA FM out of Ocala, Fla for anyone looking for a good quality America's Best Music stream online.

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If they were going to purge the standards from the format, this would be an ideal time. There'd be no one there to complain to.

semoochie said:

If they were going to purge the standards from the format, this would be an ideal time. There'd be no one there to complain to.

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You could be like Scotty in that one Star Trek movie and try to talk to the computer that's running the programming via the mouse.

With the other Westwood One satellite-delivered formats, they got rid of the DJs but replaced them with people who are already on staff at Cumulus stations around the country. As part of your duties, doing afternoon drive on an AC station in Orlando or wherever, you also now have to do a voice-tracked shift for the Westwood One satellite AC format.

So maybe America's Best Music will still have DJs, but ones already on the Cumulus payroll around the country? Although I'm sure Cumulus doesn't have any local Standards stations, so where would they get the DJs for America's Best Music? Pull them from other formats, AC or Country?

I can't imagine this mostly-AM format existing without DJs to discuss the music. The songs, except maybe for an occasional new release by Diane Krall or Michael Buble, really don't change from week to week. Why would local stations use Westwood One instead of just having their own automated format that wouldn't need much updating? If there are no DJs telling us interesting facts or adding a bit of personality, why, as a station owner, should I give Westwood One commercial inventory?

Or maybe I'd switch to Music of Your Life, which does have DJs? (Even though I prefer the music mix on America's Best.)

A Facebook post on the Transtar WW DG Radio Refugees page says this format will be jockless come Monday. Lots of questions about why affiliates would stay with format if what made it truly unique – the talent – is gone. Good question. Perhaps WW1 doesn't truly care and would be happy enough to kill it off once the affiliates start moving on.

Listening to Jeff Rollins' last show now via stream. At 9:38 CT, he played "Just a Song Before I Go" and then counted that he had 14 more, actually, before he leaves for the final time.

I'm sure the affiliate list is much lighter than it was 10 years ago. So many stations that were doing Standards or Soft Pop or whatever we should call it, decided they could make more money becoming the second or third or fourth Sports station in their market than staying with this format. There's no America's Best affiliate where I live but when I go up to New England, I hear the format on 1220 in Hamden CT and on 1490 in Portland ME. I know all the shows are voice-tracked but the audience thinks the DJs are there live, telling them about Andy Williams or Dionne Warwick. It really will be a shame when this format is simply an automated juke box, playing the songs with no DJs, not even a pre-recorded voice telling us "That's Yesterday by The Beatles" or "Daydream Believer by Anne Murray."

Gregg. said:

not even a pre-recorded voice telling us "That's Yesterday by The Beatles" or "Daydream Believer by Anne Murray."

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You don't think they already know after all these years?

I'm sure many do; some don't. I have virtually every song on the ABM playlist in my personal library, but I still prefer listening to it "live" to hear the DJs (particularly Jeff and Carl [Karl]) discuss the music. And that's even though I've heard the backstory to the average song on the list man times now. Carl Hampton was particularly fond of bring up Heinz Ketchup when "Anticipation" by Carly Simon aired.

I'm going to put my geekiness on full display, but here's a rundown of Jeff's final hour from 11 am-12 noon ET.

Gino Vanelli – I Just Wanna Stop
Joe Harnell – Fly Me To the Moon Bossa Nova

Dennis Yost & Classics IV – Stormy
Harry Nilsson – Without You
Oliva Newton John – Magic

Bread – Everything I Own
Carly Simon – Nobody Does It Better
Tom Jones – It’s Not Unusual

Three Degrees – When Will I See You Again

Frank Sinatra - Blue Moon
ABBA – Thank You For the Music

Neil Sedaka – Laughter In the Rain
David Soul – Don’t Give Up On Us

At this point, Jeff made his farewell comments:

“There’s David Soul – certainly an appropriate song today: 'Don’t Give Up On Us'.

"That’s going to wrap it up for me, Jeff Rollins, not just for today but for the foreseeable future. Yep, I hate to say it but after nearly 25 in this spot the Jeff Rollins Radio Program concludes. Not with a bang nor a whimper, but with a gentle so long.

"I just want to make it clear to longtime listeners and I know there are several of you who have listened to my faulty rall for decades, this is not a health issue. But due to circumstances beyond my control, my show, at least in this incarnation, is done. Finito.

"So I’ll — I’ll just say vaya con dios, or in the words of the old hymn, ‘God be with you till we meet again.’”

Petula Clark – Downtown

Michael Martin Murphy – What’s Forever For
The Drifters – Under the Boardwalk

There was nothing unusual about this playlist at all if you were unaware of Jeff's pending exit. But looking at the titles and considering many of the lyrics, there was definitely a wistfulness to it. Will certainly miss Jeff and hope he lands somewhere I can listen soon.

publisher said:

There was nothing unusual about this playlist at all if you were unaware of Jeff's pending exit. But looking at the titles and considering many of the lyrics, there was definitely a wistfulness to it. Will certainly miss Jeff and hope he lands somewhere I can listen soon.

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Yesterday, in what was likely his last live shift (I've always assumed that his Saturday show is voicetracked in advance, though I have no way of knowing), his last song was "For the Good Times" by Ray Price ("Don't look so sad, I know it's over.............) In fact his last half dozen songs were of a similar vein. He never said anything, other than it being his "last Friday show". But if you knew what was happening, you caught the pattern in his last few songs.

Seems a bit self-serving and unprofessional to turn one's show into a personal pity party. He has the opportunity (and not many get the chance) to be classy and grateful, and instead does his own funeral.

TheBigA said:

Seems a bit self-serving and unprofessional to turn one's show into a personal pity party. He has the opportunity (and not many get the chance) to be classy and grateful, and instead does his own funeral.

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I remember doing something similar, although not a "pity party" when the station I did mornings for in 1989 was sold and changing format. The new management allowed us to tell the audience about the forthcoming change and left us on the air until the night before so that we could bow out gracefully.

I hosted the last six hours, with pretty much all the rest of the airstaff "co-hosting". Since the audience already knew it was our swan song, there was no "pity" to be asked for, and we made it clear that the new owners had every right to make the changes, and we thanked them several times during that last shift for allowing us to go out with dignity instead of just being blown out the door.

Of course, the clock went out the door and the music was a combination of listener final requests, jock favorites, and a few special segments that duplicated some "mini-specials" we had done earlier in the year (like the one I had done on Labor Day of an entire nine-song sweep about jukeboxes).

I agree, Jeff could have been more polite in his choice of words. He made it too much about himself and not enough about the listeners.

K.M. Richards said:

I agree, Jeff could have been more polite in his choice of words. He made it too much about himself and not enough about the listeners.

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I don't mean to sound heartless or uncaring, but these are people who most likely will be getting severance packages, so it's not like they're being tossed out into the street without as much as a thank you. They've had unusually long careers in an industry not known for longevity. I'd hope for more gratitude expressed to the listeners, rather than burdening them with guilt.